The story of how I never got my auto
So yeah, I got a Sebastian Stan autograph, and I still have the ticket for it in my purse, and this is how that whole mess went.
Sebastian Stan autographs were scheduled at 3:30pm for General Admission. I’m not sure when exactly the VIP signing started, or started lining up, but when I got to the autograph area at 2:30pm, there was probably around a hundred VIP’s waiting in line. I was told there is an “unofficial line” for GA’s waiting for the 3:30pm signing to the left of the entrance, so I sat down at the end (like 20-30 people were already waiting) and settled in to wait. And wait. And wait. And then the VIP line stopped moving.
See, at 2:45pm, there was a “First Avenger” group photo op scheduled for VIP’s with Seb, Chris, Dominic Cooper, and a few others. Seb actually ended up signing an extra 15-20 minutes and holding up the photo op, and still wasn’t able to get through all of the autographs for the VIP’s. So he went to do the photo op, and the 40 or so VIP’s still left settled in to wait. Around 3:45pm, they moved in all the GA’s to a separate area to wait for Seb to come back. Around a hundred of us, and thanks to the fact no one could clearly tell us where we were supposed to enter, or how to line up, or really anything useful in a Wizard Con crowd of hundreds of onlookers, despite being early I ended up being maybe number 80 or so. Anyway, we all sat down. And waited. And waited. And waited.
I had already checked out of my hotel. I had a different hotel booked, about an hour outside of Philly for Saturday night. I was technically supposed to get my car out of the Marriott parking lot when I checked out, but the nice valet told me I can pick it up by 6pm. I had thought to myself “6pm is excellent, my autograph is at 3:30, even if it runs 2 hours late I have plenty of time.”
That never happened. I literally abandoned my place in the auto line with fifteen minutes left to get my car and it looked like it would still be another hour at least before my turn for the auto came. By that point, of course, on a Saturday during a con weekend, there was literally not one single parking garage within a reasonable distance that still had open parking spaces.
I have no clue when the autographs actually ended. If they ended before 7pm I’ll eat my damn boots. So I’m really bummed, not so much for the waste of money, but for the fact that I really wanted that autograph. And now I sort of get why Creation gets away with charging so much, because compared to the disaster of Wizard con, their organizational skills are fucking immaculate.
And just in case it sounds like I blame Seb for this nightmare, I wanna point out a couple of things. The first panel was at 10am and ended at 10:45am. Seb’s VIP photo ops started at 10:50am, which would have already been running late if the poor guy made a bathroom stop. His GA’s were supposed to start at 11:30am (and which moron thought he could take over 150 photos w/VIP’s in under an hour needs to take a fucking math class) and that was another 150-300 people easily, which he was supposed to be done with by 1:15pm because that’s when he had a dual photo op with Chris Evans. And then he was somehow supposed to be done with another 100+ photo ops and over 100+ autographs by 2:45pm, to do another photo op with another 100+ people by 3:30pm when GA’s autographs were starting. I mean it was a literal timing nightmare designed by someone who probably can’t add 2 and 2 together. Never mind the fact that like, he might have to eat? Or go to the bathroom? Or just take a fucking break?
I’m glad I had to meet him and I’m glad to meet Anthony Mackie but if we did this type of shit to animals performing in a circus there would be riots. So I can safely say I will never be attending another Wizard Con again.
